"Calm" – 5/07/22

People ask me sometimes how I've changed
I always rethink this answer, in case there've been
Further illuminations in the meantime of the last inquiry

I believe I am calmer and to some degree more
Sensitive to negative energy. I used to let it roll
Off of me like rain on a windshield letting time's

Inevitability rule the temperature in the tempest wheel
Now I'm ruled by something less ephemeral
A practiced sense of solitude immeasurably

More amenable than the need to be the epicenter
Of every discussion, debate, spotlighted epiphany
Just as happy for it to be strangers sharing their stories

And while I may have one ear attuned to aching hearts'
Longing and one ear craned to experience's
Cloak of acceptance I am always connected

To that mantra "we are" never losing sight
Of the hue in human kaleidoscope scattered light
Sometimes in need of focus sometimes of freedom

I remain, to the best of my abilities, quiet
And calm in my body, and in my spirit
Even as I sing and especially as I take trouble in